... were abbreviated due to our poor planning, but today we proceeded past the podium unencumbered by our reservation and cucumbered by crunchy Armenians tossed in chile and lime with Maldon salt:

A school of flour dredged, fried little fish ($10.00):

... with paprika and aioli got top marks for their crisp crusted, moist fleshed, snackability.

Giant white beans ($9.00):

... with feta and tomato were good, but could have used a thicker crust of crunchy breadcrumbs to contrast with these tender, titanic, legumes.

The hamburger ($13.00):

... was a perfectly cooked, beefy patty, but it was salted to stand alone so once the blue cheese came on board it crossed the sal-line (but not enough to keep us from enjoying this pickled onion punctuated sandwich which disappeared along with a heap of fries.)

Cumin and cardamon scented vegetable tagine ($18.00):

... with chunks of carrots and slivers of crunchy almonds was topped with yogurt to wed this perfectly spiced dish.

The chicken ($18.00):

... executed a rotisserie pole dance in the open kitchen that was impossible to resist. This bronzed bird had us gnawing off every last scrap of juicy meat and crisp skin.

The halibut ($24.00):

... was the kind of dish that we absolutely love. This nicely sourced, recently breathing piece of protein was respectfully cooked to a perfect rare. Yellow and green chickpeas, squash and pitted olives framed this ‘but kicking assembly.

A warm nectarine and peach galette ($8.00):

... had the perfect balance of sweetness and acidity on a pastry platform accompanied by a scoop of chevre ice cream in this goat-to dessert.

We also grazed on chevre ice cream with scoops of plulot and strawberry cava sorbets ($8.00):

... which were meltingly good with a crisp almond cookie.

Black pepper ice cream ($8.00):

... strewn with caramel, warm apricot slices and toasted bits of pound cake was a spicy end to our fabulous feast.

In addition to great chow, the service is friendly and efficient so it doesn’t come as a shock that this Divisidero destination does turn away business on a regular basis.

In other Thursday news, the weekly supper club known as Good Evening Thursdays will run through the end of July on the 9th, 16th, 23rd and concluding with a party on the 30th. So if you want to wedge in a salad and steak while this retro-teria is still active, make a rezzie at goodeveningthursday@gmail.com with your name, phone number, date and party size.

Good Evening ThursdayBruno’s
2389 Mission St.
San Francisco, CA
415.643.5200

Clock Bar strikes one...

Next week all of our local barkeeps will drag their tales back from their con-cock-tion conference in New Orleans and clock back in to their respective bars with some of these big hands circling over as guest bartenders to celebrate the first birthday of Michael Mina’s Clock Bar Here’s the lineup:

Whether you want to feast your eyes on a premier screening of Julie & Julia or just feast, there are an amusing bouche-ful of options at this year’s SF Chefs. Food. Wine. event. There will be sommelier sessions with practiced palates including Emily Wines and Rajat Parr, gala dinners honoring culinary creatives such as Emily Luchetti and Judy Rodgers and an urban BBQ with Chefs including Ryan Farr and Chad Newton creating street food to eat to the beet as Hubert Keller platters and spin dries his musical mesclun.

There are day passes or you can purchase tickets a la carte. The full schedule is available here.

We hobbed into Nob Hill Grille to check out the comfort food based cuisine in this cozy corner pocket on Hyde and Pine.

An open kitchen with bar seating:

... set the casual tone at this Hyde-a-whey where we started with house made burrata ($11.00):

A creamy curd cloud hovered over rainbow-shaped slices of heirloom tomatoes with a shower of finishing salt in this pouch precipitated with micro basil.

Wagyu sliders ($10.00):

... were packed with caramelized onions in house made molasses buns. A Dijon and honeyed mayonnaise completed the sliding effect.

A bread salad ($11.00):

... with grilled and chilled white peaches was a refreshing combo of watermelon chunks, mache and blue cheese in a mustard seed vinaigrette. Brioche was cubed and browned in butter to add a lighter crouton-icity to this fresh and summery dish complimented by a spritzy Ceago Sauvignon Blanc.

Penne sauced with bolognese ($16.00):

... rooted around for a carroty sweetness to this sausage-saturated bowl of sustenance as a meaty counterpoint to a Cartilage & Brown Zinfandel.

The grilled pork chop ($19.00):

... was bone gnawingly good due to an overnight brining. A sweet potato pancake, carrots, spinach and licorice greens were complemented by the licorice notes of a Terra Rosa Malbec.

Peach crepes ($8.00):

... were filled and topped with macerated white peaches and strewn with creme anglaise and whipped cream. A gilding Cambria late harvest viognier sealed this peachy deal.

Locals (including medical professionals from the hospital across the street) filed into this neighborhood nook where Nob Hill dwellers can grab an Angus burger or a full meal of homey chow.

Where do you buy your lard? I live in the Bay Area and am wanting to buy some.

Thanks, Debra

Gutenberg replies:

Dear Debra,

Our pal K. goes to her local Bay Area carnecia, but you can also pick up little buckets of Prather Ranch lard at the Ferry Building and if you feel pressed with a tardy lardy craving, Boulette's Larder and Boccalone (also in the Ferry Building) sell cookies that are extremely fat-isfying in their inclusion of this piggy butter.

We cast the stones from a big bag of cherries so that they could reach their sinful pit-ential in a stemonstration of flakey fruit fabrication.

We subbed out lard for the indicated shortening and gravitated towards less sugar (based on the sweetness of our orb-bites) to produce a perfectly palatable pastry pouch that we will make next time cherries are plentiful and pitiful.

B&R fired up the BBQ to grill filet mignon served with potatoes and the most delicious salad of cantaloupe, celery, radishes, scallions, mint, tamari and vinaigrette capped off by a peach bread pudding with caramel sauce and ginger ice cream.

Now that lobster prices have hit rock bottom-feeder, we thought we would check out how Old Port was rolling. We had visited their (now shuttered) North Beach Lobster Shack and watched their lobster rolls go from satisfying:

to just sad:

... and hoped that the original outlet didn’t follow wet suit.

Today's lobster roll ($18.75):

...seemed to have shrunk a little, but it was still a ‘stering sandwich with tender, fresh, flesh stuffed into a buttered and grilled East Coast style bun barricaded by a side of fries.

Our oyster po’boy ($12.75):

... had crisp-crusted deep fried shuckees which we drizzled with tartar sauce and devoured (even though this was good, the lobster roll is the thing to get here.)

This counter service:

... strip mall:

... seafood stop may have decreased the dimensions of their sandwiches, but they were still worth the stop while we were in the South Bay.

Urban Tavern’s new Executive Chef Mary O’Neill has been around the butcher block a few times including stints at Aqua, Jardiniere and Woodwards Garden but her new Hilton Hotel location:

... poses a challenge that these venues did not - feeding finicky San Franciscans without alienating the tastes of the tourists. Her menu bridges this gap by combining comfort foods with locally sourced ingredients and a sense of humor.

A pretzel with a cast iron pot of sliced Caggiano beer sausage, whole grain mustard and house made sauerkraut ($11.00):

... was a nice twist to our dinner. This fresh baked knot of soft centered dough was worth casing out with Petaluma’s wurst.

The chopped farmers market salad ($11.00):

...topped with crispy brioche crumbs cut to the chase with asparagus, yellow and orange carrots, peas, beans, corn, with frisée and radicchio dressed in a garlic vinaigrette to show off the domestic vegetation. We tempered the virtuousness of this fresh and tasty combo with some Cheese Jimmy's ($5.00):

... in a nest of fingerling potatoes, leek puree and artichoke hearts and a “Tavern cut” steak ($19.00):

...(from the back/shoulder area) which was cooked to a perfect medium rare and served with house made bbq sauce and a sweetly oniony, shallot and green garlic butter. A row of fries had a counterpoint of peppery watercress in this cast iron pan of meaty matter augmented with the spice from a 2002 La Jota Cabernet.

The “cookie jar” ($9.00):

... of little, warm, toll cottages (speckled with both dark and milk chocolate chips) was served with ice cold milk was stripped of its G rating with a shot of Baileys ($7.00 supplement) while the rhubarb-strawberry crisp ($9.00):

... had a nice barby tang tempered by the berries and wedded with a big scoop of creme fraiche gelato.

We sipped on a heavenly, honeyed, 2007 Bonny Doon Le Vol des Angles before we took flight from this friendly downtown dining depot (with the major bonus of having validated parking included with the meal.)

We ordered the pork ramen in a peanut lime cilantro broth, but were brought the noodles with ground pork and bean sauce ($8.50):

... which looked good so we didn’t bother to point out the switch. There was a nice touch of heat to this sesame seeded, scallion-showered, cucumber laced, pork punctuated, bowl of strings which we liked fine, but the miso marinated salmon BLT ($10.00):

...had the bacon advantage. House made focaccia was lined with aioli, lettuce, pork strips and salmon that was cooked to our specified “rare.” Despite the anemic tomatoes, this was a fine marriage of surf and turf with a side of crisp, salty taro chips.

The staff is friendly in this chic slurping center:

... which has evolved from their Oakland twirling grounds. This is a natural selection for ape-leasant meal in the Marina.